ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley Women's Basketball team outscored visiting Neumann University 22-13 in the fourth quarter to defeat the Knights 68-58 in the season opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon at Sorrentino Gymnasium in Annville.
 
The Dutchmen got on the board first as Brielle Reidinger muscled her way to a layup in the paint. Neumann used a 6-2 run over the next few minutes to go up 6-4. The teams traded scores, and a Riley Hebelow jumper tied the game at eight midway through the quarter. Neither team was able to make a field goal over the next few minutes, but each team made two free throws during the stretch. Neumann took a 12-10 lead on a layup with just under two minutes to play. Reidinger knocked down a jumper in the paint at the other end and then Cristina Fernandez gave the Dutchmen a 14-12 lead with a bucket with 29 seconds left.
 
Jordan Zimmerman found Reidinger underneath the basket for the first points of the second quarter. Neumann came down the other end of the court with a three-pointer to cut the advantage to one. Hevelow hit a three and then and jumper to extend the lead to 21-15. The Knights responded with a 6-0 run over the next two minutes to tie the game up. Elise Balmer and Reidinger gave the Dutchmen a three-point lead with back-to-back layups. Neumann was able to tie the game at 28 on a buzzer-beating half-court shot by Lauren Klieber.
 
Neumann came out of the locker room strong and a three-pointer by Klieber gave the Knights a 38-35 lead with 6:47 on the clock. The Knights used another three to take their largest lead of the game at six points. Fernandez grabbed a defensive rebound and went the length of the court to cut the lead to four midway through the quarter. After trading scores, Abbie Reed knocked down a three and Kailey Eckhart scored on a fastbreak layup after a steal by Balmer. Hevelow hit a jumper with a little over a minute remaining to give LVC a 46-45 lead heading into the final quarter of play.
 
The teams traded buckets in the first couple minutes of the fourth. Eckhart knocked down a big three off an assist from Hevelow and then Hevelow had a big step-back jumper in the paint to give LVC a 53-47 advantage. Klieber had a three-point play to cut the lead in half. Reidinger knocked down a pair of free throws, Hevelow got out in transition for a layup, and then Fernandez had a steal and layup to push the lead to 59-50 with 3:50 left. The lead was still nine when Hevelow hit a dagger three-pointer with just over two minutes to play. The teams traded scores over the final two minutes as the Dutchmen finished with a 68-58 victory after a layup in the final seconds by the Knights.
 
Inside the Box

• Hevelow scored 23 points and shot 10-16 from the field to lead three Dutchmen in double figures. The junior added three rebounds, three assists, and one block to her stat line.
• Reidinger was two rebounds shy of a double-double with 17 points and eight rebounds. The forward had four blocks, three assists, and was 5-6 at the free throw line.
• Fernandez stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, nine rebounds, three steals, three blocks, and two assists.
• Eckhart was the third Dutchman in double figures scoring with 11 points.
• Reed led the team in rebounds with 11. The sophomore added seven points and four assists.
• The Dutchmen shot 50-percent from the field with 28 points in the paint and 13 second-chance points.
• LVC won the season opener for the first time since the 2021-22 season when they defeated Marywood University 61-35.

Up Next
LVC will be off until next Saturday when they travel up to Boston for the EC Tip-Off Classic at Emmanuel College. The Dutchmen will face Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in the tournament opener at 1 p.m. and will then face either the host Saints or Hunter College on Sunday.

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